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Original poster

To think the coronation street storyline about Oliver is in poor taste?

53 replies

pigeonsfeather · 07/10/2020 20:15

Oliver has an incurable condition, and his parents are refusing to accept this, becoming hostile to the doctors treating him and trying to raise funds to bring in an ‘expert’ from abroad. There is now a legal dispute.

I thought it sounded similar to the Charlie Gard case, but it wasn’t until I googled I realised the character supposedly has the same condition as Charlie Gard did.

AIBU in thinking that’s in really, really poor taste? It’s virtually to the letter what happened and I can’t think of any other case where what happened in RL is mirrored in the soaps. On some occasions storylines have even been changed on this basis.

OP posts:
TheSeedsOfADream · 08/10/2020 07:57

Let's not forget that the hospital in Italy offering to take Charlie Gard is basically the Pope's local hospital and where Vatican residents are treated.
So no agenda there at all. Hmm

x2boys · 08/10/2020 08:08

I think the hospital was only offering palliative care though ,I don't they could actually treat Charlie Gard?

Purpledaisychain · 08/10/2020 08:20

@x2boys

They had a new treatment that they wanted to try. UK hospitals said no because they didn't know if it would work. Thank god we didn't have the same mentality when things like penicillin were discovered.

MoonJelly · 08/10/2020 08:30

A child's death like those mentioned upthread are not topical issues, they are personal tragedies (as are all) and the soaps should leave well alone.

If soaps never have a storyline that reflects personal tragedies that happen in real life, how could they be remotely realistic?

CherryPavlova · 08/10/2020 08:31

@Purpledaisychain

But in Charlie Gard's case, the hospital abroad actually wanted him to come. It was the British hospital doctors that were trying to play God.

The german doctors have said no in the Coronation Street storyline. I hope it ends soon. I know it's important to shed light on serious issues but with everything else going on in the world at the minute the last thing I want to do is sit and watch a storyline about a dying child in the evening. Plus Leanne/Steve/Nick are not strong enough actors to be carrying out this type of storyline.

It wasn’t doctors ‘playing God’. What a horrible misinformed way to represent the situation. The decision to allow the child to die with dignity and not be transferred for experimental treatment by an American doctor, that had not so much as seen the medical records, was made by the Court of Protection. GOS offered excellent palliative medical care, but felt it was not in the child’s best interest to continue to care for him on an intensive care unit attached to a ventilator. Independent assessment showed ongoing responses that were indicative of pain as the only function poor Charlie retained. Moving him would not only be futile but also likely to be uncomfortable for him. The parents clung, unsurprisingly to any glimmer of hope. International parties didn’t understand the concept of the NHS ad believed it was some sort of state organisation limiting resources- which was never the issue. It was compassionate medical teams trying to do their very best by the little boy disagreeing with parents who found acceptance of the only possible outcome too hard to bear. An absolute tragedy that should probably have not been reported before decisions had been made. The fall out for all was horrible.
MoonJelly · 08/10/2020 08:35

But in Charlie Gard's case, the hospital abroad actually wanted him to come. It was the British hospital doctors that were trying to play God.

They weren't trying to play God. They did not want a terminally ill child to be put through a dangerous journey during which he might die painfully without the right facilities available to treat him, only to go through more painful treatment which actually had no chance of succeeding, because you can't reverse brain damage. The doctor concerned hadn't even examined Charlie when he offered the treatment, and agreed it was pointless when he eventually did.

CherryPavlova · 08/10/2020 08:38

[quote Purpledaisychain]@x2boys

They had a new treatment that they wanted to try. UK hospitals said no because they didn't know if it would work. Thank god we didn't have the same mentality when things like penicillin were discovered.[/quote]
Not true at all. Daily Mail type perspective.
No internationally based doctor had ever reviewed the medical records or seen Charlie.
The treatment was at best experimental and had never been used for mitochondrial depletion. There was no evidence of any success with any condition. It was not even experimental in terms of a formal research programme. It was one person’s idea basically and no more like to offer success than boiled tortoise shells.
That wasn’t quite how the impact of antibiotics were recognised by Fleming. The ancient Egyptians first recognised the positive effect of mould on infection but didn’t call it penicillin; they called it old bread. The difference being a positive effect was seen before it was then researched clinically.

ghostyslovesheets · 08/10/2020 08:58

Also the doctors didn’t make the decision- a court - with ALL the facts of the case did - regardless of what the tabloids posted

Supersimkin2 · 08/10/2020 09:05

This reply has been deleted

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PuppyMonkey · 08/10/2020 09:09

You could say the storyline about the young guy committing suicide a while back was "in poor taste", you could say the storyline with Yasmeen and coercive control was "in poor taste" you could say Hayley dying of cancer was "in poor taste", you could say the tram crash was "in poor taste" you could say Len Fairclough dying in a car crash was "in poor taste."

I'll stop now. Grin

What I'm saying is that any storyline is potentially far too personal and in poor taste for someone watching. Short of having the characters sit around watching the telly and sleeping, not sure what else the writers can do about it.

contrmary · 08/10/2020 09:20

It's in poor taste, but then the people who watch the show have poor taste, so it cancels out really. Two negatives make a positive.

Original poster
pigeonsfeather · 08/10/2020 09:23

Those things are a bit different though puppy, because obviously they happen all the time. They could never be said to mirror so closely any one person or family. I wouldn’t say a storyline about a child with a terminal illness was poor taste (I don’t actually enjoy watching it but that’s obviously not the same thing.) However, when something so closely mirrors a high profile and real life event it is uncomfortable viewing, IMO anyway.

I’ve no objection whatsoever to soaps tackling sensitive and even controversial storylines, but I do think that when they so closely mirror a real life case that it is a step too far. That is to say that for example a storyline about cervical cancer would be a good way to raise awareness of the condition, and far from objecting to that I would probably agree that it would be a positive way of encouraging women to get smear tests. However, if the storyline featured a young woman who was a minor celebrity and passed away on Mother’s Day leaving two young boys ... I would probably say that was just a bit too close for comfort as it would too closely mirror jade Goody (which of course was nowhere near as recent as Charlie Gard was.) That’s the sort of distinction I mean. Raise awareness - yes, good, by all means. Reenact someone’s real pain and suffering for viewing figures - No, absolutely not.

OP posts:
RobynTripp · 08/10/2020 09:38

@contrmary

It's in poor taste, but then the people who watch the show have poor taste, so it cancels out really. Two negatives make a positive.
Don't be so rude
MoonJelly · 08/10/2020 09:40

Those things are a bit different though puppy, because obviously they happen all the time. They could never be said to mirror so closely any one person or family

Whilst the Emmerdale plane crash didn't mirror one family but several, the storyline was extremely close to the Lockerbie disaster.

PuppyMonkey · 08/10/2020 09:40

@contrmary so funny, honestly, my sides can't cope with the extreme wit, bravo. Flowers

Original poster
pigeonsfeather · 08/10/2020 09:44

@MoonJelly

Those things are a bit different though puppy, because obviously they happen all the time. They could never be said to mirror so closely any one person or family

Whilst the Emmerdale plane crash didn't mirror one family but several, the storyline was extremely close to the Lockerbie disaster.

I don’t watch Emmerdale. I’m not sure what I think about that, I think here it isn’t just the fact the conditions mirror one another but the reactions, too.
OP posts:
LonelyFromCorona · 08/10/2020 10:21

YABU. Raises awareness of quite serious moral/medical issues and increases discussion.

Lashes81 · 12/11/2020 22:42

Connie, Charlie's mum is a very good friend of mine. We were pregnant with Charlie and my daughter togeher so I was one of the first to go through the trauma with her and watch the whole thing unfold. Our pregnancy group started Charlie's army and started the raising of the money for his treatment. This story line stunned me too as its so bloody alike.

Lashes81 · 12/11/2020 22:44

Also Connie and Chris' new baby is called Ollie so must be so hard for thrm to watch this.

HollowTalk · 12/11/2020 22:48

I really hope she's doing well, @Lashes81. It was incredibly sad for them both.

Lashes81 · 12/11/2020 22:52

They did have treatment for Charlie and it had worked on several other children with the condition also.

Lashes81 · 12/11/2020 22:55

Ollie is a very welcome distraction and lights up thrif lives but as im sure you'll guess being a parent that void will never go away and she'll always think they voulc have done more but it was Gosh that put an end to that earn there was treatment available thst had worked in several other children. I know the fight isn't over but cant say mire than that right now but there is evidence of malpractice xx

Sickofmysalary · 12/11/2020 22:55

Leanne did start spouting about Oliver’s Army a day or so did she not?

Sickofmysalary · 12/11/2020 22:56

I’m sure Charlie’s parents will be thrilled your telling Mumsnet this Lashes Blush

TheFormerPorpentinaScamander · 12/11/2020 23:01

@Sickofmysalary

I’m sure Charlie’s parents will be thrilled your telling Mumsnet this Lashes Blush
Well quite.

Hard soap storylines like this are always going to be close to someone's real life. Although this particular one is closer than most I think. Steve and whoever it was he had the stillborn son with (I think it was Steve. Around the time Oliver was born) Michelle? My sister had a stillborn a month or so before. It made the storyline so hard to watch and felt like they'd picked our family up and dumped us in soap land. My sister stopped watching Corrie as it was just too real. But that doesn't mean we think they shouldn't have had the story.